Regular News

The Honorable Harold I. Cherness, retired Superior Court Judge, died peacefully in Santa Monica early in the morning of March 10, 2016, at the age of 93.

Judge Cherness (Hal to his friends and those who knew him) was born July 28, 1922 in Brooklyn, the eldest of four children. A keen student with a quick and curious mind, Hal pursued a college degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, until his formal education was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the US Army, in the Pacific theater. Upon his honorable discharge from the military, Hal returned to UCLA, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1946, and shortly thereafter entered law school at the University of Southern California, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree.

After 25 years in private practice, much of it as a criminal defense attorney, Hal was appointed to the Municipal Court for the Culver Judicial District in 1975 by Governor Edmund (“Jerry”) Brown Junior and remained on the bench here in Culver City until 1994. During his tenure on the Municipal Court, he developed a reputation for courtesy and civility to attorneys, defendants, staff, and the general public. He later served on the Superior Court as an “on assignment” judge (a judge who substitutes for judges who are sick or on vacation). After 38 years of distinguished service on the bench, Judge Cherness finally retired in 2013 at age 90.

Hal was devoted to his wife, Gertrude Cherness, whom he married in 1945 and with whom he had two children, Janel and Darryl. Two years after Trudy's death, Hal met and married Carolyn Falstein, with whom he shared 15 wonderful years.

Hal was a longtime member and past president of the Culver City Democratic Club, having joined the Club in 1953, and remained an active member for the rest of his life. As an early member of the Club, he fought for street lights and sewers for Culver City, which at that time was a semi-rural community. In addition, he fought for pay parity for the Culver City Police so that they could earn a salary comparable to the Los Angeles Police. All three goals were ultimately achieved. In 1998 the Democratic Club awarded him the “Trudy Cherness Active Democrat Award,” and his son, Darryl, was privileged to present it to him. In addition, several years ago, he received from the Democratic Club the Club’s first “Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Harold Cherness will be remembered as a passionate believer in the law, a fierce defender of civil rights, a committed champion of the under-privileged and working people, and a loving father, husband, and friend of many. He is survived by his daughter, Janel, son Darryl, and granddaughter Isabell.

The Culver City Democratic Club overwhelmingly endorsed candidates
Meghan Sahli-Wells, Thomas Small and Daniel Lee for the three open seats on the
Culver City Council. The endorsement, voted by Club members, immediately
followed a forum during which all Democratic candidates responded to questions
about their experience and perspectives.

The previous evening, the Los Angeles Democratic Party endorsed the same
candidates, Meghan Sahli-Wells, Thomas Small and Daniel Lee, for the Council
seats.

“These Democratic candidates are a unifying force for our city. This
is the reason we should find them so compelling to vote for April 12th, “
Khin Khin Gyi, president of the Culver City Democratic Club, said.

"Culver City Democrats look to us to provide the information they need to
vote for the best candidates,” Darryl Cherness, a past president of the
Club, said. “We take this responsibility very seriously. We are very
pleased to endorse Meghan Sahli-Wells, Thomas Small and Daniel Lee for City
Council this April.”

Council member Meghan Sahli-Wells , who was raised in Culver City and
graduated from UCLA, is the only incumbent in the race. She was elected in 2012
and has been endorsed by all four of her fellow councilpersons.

Meghan Sahli-Wells and her husband, Karim Sahli, a small business owner, are
the parents of two sons who attend Culver City Middle School.

The list of her priorities is long. Among them are collaborating with the
school district (CCUSD), addressing mansionization and airplane noise,
investing in critical new infrastructure, attracting new businesses,
maintaining high quality City services, and protecting health and safety with
stringent oil drilling regulations. She advocates creating a comprehensive
community plan for the City, further streamlining city services, supporting
Fire Department and Police Department efforts to prepare for natural and
man-made disasters, designing streets safe for all users, and providing
high-speed Internet connectivity to Culver City businesses, schools and
residents by installing a municipal fiber network.

Councilperson Sahli-Wells serves on a number of city committees and
coalitions: as chair of the School Board and City Council Liaison Committee,
chair of the Sustainability Committee, member of the Oil Drilling Subcommittee,
member of the LAX Overflight Working Group, and member of the Culver City Ready
Coalition, a county disaster resilience project.

Thomas Small, a graduate of Yale University, is a commissioner on the Culver
City Cultural Affairs Commission. He and his wife, Joanna Brody, are the
parents of twins who attend Linwood E. Howe Elementary School. She is PTA
president. Mr. Small, who is fluent in Spanish, volunteers in the
school’s Spanish enrichment program, which his wife co-founded. He also
coaches AYSO soccer.

As a commissioner, Thomas Small initiated and moderated “Architecture
Talks,” a series of public conversations among the City’s
residents, business persons, and world-renowned Culver City architects. He
initiated the artist and poet laureate program in advance of the City’s
centennial. He brought the City’s first international film festival to
Culver City and awarded $48,000 in grants to Culver City performing arts
organizations.

Thomas Small is an expert in the fields of architecture and urban planning.
He points to the nine new developments already underway locally and emphasizes
the importance of the City requiring green open space, innovative
transportation alternatives, sustainable design and environmental building
practices, walkability and bikeability. The transportation alternatives will
mitigate traffic congestion, and the sustainable design will result improved
parking. All these features will make these developments work for Culver City
residents, Mr. Small says.

Thomas Small is committed to nurturing and encouraging creative businesses
and the innovation, media, design, digital and internet economies that have
much potential to bring additional revenue to Culver City.

Thomas Small is an environmentalist. At UCLA he taught Sustainability for
Organizational change, and he advocates an environmental sustainability master
plan to be developed jointly by Culver City and the school district.

Daniel Lee is a 13-year resident with a master’s degree in social
welfare from UCLA. He credits his grandmother, who participated with Dr. Martin
Luther King in the Montgomery bus boycott, for his desire to be of service and
his own social justice perspective. He has served on the Culver City Martin
Luther King Celebration Committee for the past five years, planning its
citywide celebration of the iconic Civil Rights leader.

Much of Mr. Lee’s local effort has been with youth. A filmmaker and
actor, he has volunteered with El Rincon Elementary School students in an
artists and communication program for several years. He also developed a Civil
Rights curriculum that he implemented at the Teen Center to increase young
people’s understanding of their country’s history.

Daniel Lee has placed the environment and the health of residents at the
center of his agenda. Chief among his concerns is the Inglewood Oil Field. As
an environmental fellow with Liberty Hill Foundation, he worked with area
organizations toward a Los Angeles City fracking ban. He and other Culver City
residents also met with State Assemblyperson Sebastian Ridley-Thomas to
advocate for a state environmental bill, SB 350.

As the only renter among the candidates, Mr. Lee intends to focus on
affordability, homelessness, enacting a city minimum wage and making the City
work for all residents.

Daniel Lee has been a key grassroots organizer in Los Angeles' "Money out,
Voters In" initiative, and Move to Amend Los Angeles. He was asked to join Move
to Amend’s national board and since then has travelled across the
country, educating audiences about their Constitutional rights.

"We need people on the council who can support Meghan Sahli-Wells and her
important work in sustainability, transportation and social justice,”
Democratic Club member Rick Tuttle said. “We believe that Thomas Small
and Daniel Lee can help increase the quality of life for all of us in Culver
City."

For more information about the candidates, access their websites:
Vote4Meghan.com, Thomas4CulverCity.org, and DanielWayneLee.com.

The Culver City Democratic Club has been active in local, state and national
politics since 1953.

The Culver City Democratic Club has been a vital force in electing
candidates to local office, as well as to state and national positions. Many
members of Culver City’s City Council have been members of the Club,
including four of the five current Councilmembers.

The Culver City Democratic Club and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party
are chartered under the California State Democratic party to represent the
voices of Democrats in Culver City and the Los Angeles area.

The Culver City Democratic Club meets every second Wednesday night at the
Veterans Memorial Complex Rotunda Room. For more information, go to
www.culvercitydemocraticclub.org, phone 310 398 5328, email info@culvercitydemocraticclub.com, or mail the CCDC at PO Box 4254, Culver
City CA 90231.

David Weisman, longtime member of the Culver City Democratic Club, who survived a complex of health problems in recent years, died on May 27, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer. He was 88 years old.

An environmental engineer, “he kept track of the cleanliness of the ocean,” his widow, Ruth, explained.